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AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenMariscosMexican

Adelita’s Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:26 PM

No matter where you travel in Latin America, you’ll find grilled meat (carne asada) on the menu. Restaurants called parrillas which specialize in grilled foods also grill seafood (mariscos) and poultry. Particularly popular in Argentina and Colombia, the mixed grill called Parrillada Mixta (or just parrillada) can be any combination of grilled meats, poultry and seafood. My inaugural experience with parrillada in San Antonio, Texas left such a huge impression on my taste buds that I behave like Pavlov’s dogs upon seeing it on a menu. More often than not, I’m left disappointed because my very first parrillada set a nonpareil standard for excellence. At Adelita’s, a Mexican restaurant launched in 2004, parrillada is on the menu in three incarnations–parrillada de carne asada, parrillada de mariscos and parrillada mar y tierra (sea and land). While it’s not nearly as wonderful as in San Antonio, Adelita’s one of the few restaurants in New Mexico we’ve found which even offers parrillada. Served on an unheated metal grill, it is intended and enough for two people. Adelita’s version of carne asada parrillada features carne asada, sausage, onions, green peppers and tomatoes, all grilled exceptionally well. Included with the parrillada are your choice of…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenThai

Thai Basil – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:21 PM

Lemongrass, mint, ginger, lime, chile peppers and particularly Thai basil combine in congruent deliciousness to make Thai cuisine among the most popular ethnic cuisines in North America. As one of the most popular culinary herbs in the world, basil is a richly aromatic, slightly spicy ameliorant to many of the best dishes proffered at all Thai restaurants.  Also known as “hairy basil” and by its Thai name of “horapa”, it is used in salads, soups, curries and as a garnish. The aroma of Thai basil is stronger and sweeter than its Italian counterpart and it has a peppery flavor slightly reminiscent of star anise.  Vietnamese cooking also relies heavily on Thai basil.  It’s no wonder so many Thai restaurants across the country are named for this diverse and revered herb. Albuquerque’s Thai Basil restaurant launched in 2004 on the site of the popular Thai Kitchen which closed earlier in the year.  Owned and operated by California transplants well versed in the art of Thai cuisine, it quickly established a reputation as one of the city’s best new restaurants. The Thai Basil restaurant is perhaps more sparsely decorated than other Thai restaurants in town, but what festoons its walls is very…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSteak

Great American Steakhouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:56 AM

Since the nineteenth century, land and cattle companies have been established throughout the west to buy, sell and lease land for grazing and breeding beef cattle. During years of ample water, high beef prices and fortuitous grace, profits are generally high. While most Albuquerque urbanites might not know or concern themselves with the history of cattle raising in the old west, they do know and appreciate great steak. For years they’ve been patronizing the Great American Land and Cattle Company on Tramway and Indian School. Starting in 2006, they won’t be able to do so. That’s because the restaurant has undergone a name change, one that better reflects the restaurant’s culinary fare (and I suspect prevents any confusion with the Texas Land And Cattle Company, a chain restaurant.) There’s another reason Albuquerque’s Great American Land and Cattle Company has changed its name to Great American Steakhouse. Jerry Wright, the restaurant’s affable co-owner once promised his mother that salad would never grace the menu at the Great American Land and Cattle Company (more about that salad later). The addition of salad to the menu is just one of the many changes at Albuquerque’s very best steakhouse. The Great American Steakhouse now…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenIndianNew Mexico

Bombay Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:01 AM

The unmistakably pungent aroma of exotic spices wafts through the air and remains with you long after you’ve finished your meal at the Bombay Grill, a 2004 entrant in the growing northwest Albuquerque dining scene (which, unfortunately, is dominated by mediocre chains). That’s the last time you’ll see “mediocre” and Bombay Grill in the same sentence because this charming and outstanding Indian cuisine establishment is high on our “must return” list. There are many reasons for that and they’re certainly not encapsulated in the gargantuan lunch buffet. The lunch buffet is admittedly a wonderful way to introduce novitiates to one of the world’s most sophisticated and ancient cuisines, one that in which herbs and spices are used liberally to flavor each dish. Bombay Grill specializes in the cuisine of Northern India where dairy products such as paneer (a farmer’s cheese similar to cottage cheese), yoghurt and ghee (clarified butter) are typical ingredients. Chefs in Northern India also employ the tandoor, a large cylindrical coal-fired oven to prepare various flat “breads” such as naan and roti. The Bombay Grill occupies the site of a failed Chinese restaurant and though it can’t hide some of the architectural features of its predecessor, it…

MariscosMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Puerto Peñasco – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:51 PM

Mexico’s Sea of Cortez has been likened to an enormous net for its capacity to support more marine life than any other body of water on Earth.  Over 3,000 marine species, including more than 900 species of fish, call its azure waters home.  The bounties of the Sea of Cortez sustained the indigenous tribes of pre-Colombian times and today delight aficionados of mariscos with delicious oysters, clams, scallops and shrimp.  It’s no wonder the Mexican Coast is a favorite destination  of seafood lovers throughout the world. Situated on the edge of a rocky promontory in the Sea of Cortez is the aptly named Puerto Peñasco which translates in English to Rocky Point.  In recent years, the humble fishing village of Puerto Peñasco has burgeoned into a popular beach resort favored by Arizonans.  It’s only a four and a half hour drive from Phoenix to this mushrooming marine resort. Puerto Peñasco offers miles of pristine white sand in beaches strewn with millions of tiny shells.  It embraces its visitors in warm waters and gives them respite in comfortable accommodations. This seaside resort is renown for beautifully plated and fresh mariscos which literally go directly from the nearby sea to the kitchen…

Closed in 2024Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicoSanta Fe

Mucho Gusto – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:20 PM

On the surface, Laura Esquivel’s wonderful 1990 tome Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water For Chocolate) is about the struggles of a couple passionately in love but cruelly fated to be kept apart.  Below the surface, however, is a brilliant novel that celebrates the passion food can–and does–inspire. Tita de la Garza longs her entire life for her lover Pedro Muzquiz.  Alas, her life’s path has already been established by a tyrannical mother who decrees that Tita must remain unmarried and take care of her aging parents. Unable to have a life with her lover, Tita infuses her passion and love for Pedro into her cooking.   When her ingredients coalesce and simmer into subtle and unusual flavors, people who taste her cooking experience what she feels: love, hope, passion, sorrow and longing. This brilliant novel is actually divided into twelve sections, each beginning with a traditional Mexican recipe.  Each chapter details the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in Tita’s ill-fated life.  Tita’s life may also have been celebrated on the walls of a now defunct Santa Fe restaurant. The walls at Santa Fe’s Old Mexico Grill were festooned with art which must have been inspired…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

Murphy’s Mule Barn – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:09 AM

A mule is an animal with long funny ears he kicks up at anything he hears His back is brawny but his brain is weak he’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak and by the way if you hate to go to school You may grow up to be a mule. – Bing Crosby Murphy’s law, a popular adage in Western culture is commonly formulated as “if anything can go wrong, it will.”  Murphy’s Mule Barn, a popular North Valley restaurant, hasn’t posited any law that I know of, but if it did, the law might read something like “friendly folks, great food, huge portions, small check.” Named for Murphy’s Mule Barn in Salina, Kansas, the restaurant celebrates all things mule in a cutesy sort of way with an ambience that includes barn implements such as stirrups, harnesses and other mule driving tools, many of the antique variety. Pictures of mules and ceramic statues of burros add rustic charm while posters by prominent New Mexico artist B.C. Nowlin give no indication that Nowlin, one of the restaurant’s most famous “local” patrons starts many a day with breakfast at Murphy’s before heading to his studio (and it’s a good bet…

AlbuquerqueChineseClosed in 2021Gone But Not Forgotten

Great Fortune Chinese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:30 PM

According to the Chinese Restaurant News, a respected trade publication, there are now approximately 36,000 Chinese restaurants in America.  That’s nearly three times as many Chinese restaurants as there are McDonald’s franchises.  That’s more than the number of McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King franchises combined. No longer considered exotic, Chinese restaurants are part of the fabric of American culture. There is virtually no American city in which Chinese restaurants aren’t plentiful. A survey by a food product development company revealed that 39 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 13 prefer Chinese food over any other ethnic cuisine (interestingly only nine percent chose American). The online Yellow Pages indicate there are more than 50 different Chinese restaurants in Albuquerque, some of which have several stores throughout the city.  By sheer volume alone, you might think there would be more than the scant Chinese restaurants reviewed on Gil’s Thrilling Web site.  You might also wonder why Scott Sharot only listed two Chinese restaurants (Ming Dynasty and ABC Chinese) in his outstanding book New Mexico Chow. I can’t speak for Scott, but there’s a reason I haven’t published reviews of more Chinese restaurants.  At the risk of not being politically…

EspañolaMariscosMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Mariscos La Playa – Espanola, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:34 PM

Even though it seems most women celebrate it every year in perpetuity, a woman’s 29th birthday actually occurs only once. On my mom’s umpteenth 29th birthday we wanted everything to be perfect so we took her to her favorite mariscos restaurant for a fabulous meal of Mexican seafood served impeccably. We baked her favorite cake, a rich, moist carrot cake with homemade frosting. We had the restaurant play her favorite birthday songs–Las Mananitas (a stirring rendition by Vicente Fernandez whose soulful voice plumbs the depths of the emotional scale) and Mananitas Tapatias by Pedro Infante (the undisputed greatest idol in Mexican cinematic history). Knowing what a great sport she is, we even asked the wait staff fete her with flan and photograph her in one of those colorful sombreros. There was only one problem. When the wait staff came to our table bearing celebratory accoutrements, my mom had just stepped away to the restroom. There we were–music blaring, wait staff in tow and no guest of honor. We had to do the whole thing all over again minutes later. Mariscos La Playa is the perfect restaurant for a birthday celebration. Moreover, it’s the perfect restaurant for a great meal. There…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenSteak

The Falls – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:35 PM

New Mexico has been gilded with incomparable scenic beauty and an abundance of sunshine. Cerulean skies graduate in depth of color the higher above the horizon your eyes climb, interrupted only by velvety smooth red-rock outcrops and snow-capped mountains. Fiery sunsets and brilliant sunrises give the illusion that God just threw a bucket of paint into the sky while processions of wispy cloud formations provide the promise of much needed rain as they sweep past the parched escarpment. A vibrant and diverse topography provides striking contrasts in terrain. It’s easy to focus on the many reasons New Mexico truly earns the sobriquet “the Land of Enchantment.” “Glass is half empty” folks might argue that New Mexico has been “shortchanged” when it comes to water-based enchantment and would point out that “waterfall” in our blessed state means that the water falls only on occasion and in parsimonious amounts. The rest of us would retort that sometimes less is more and cite as evidence, the volcanically formed and preternaturally beautiful Soda falls in the Jemez River valley. Sometimes man creates what God didn’t provide. In November, 2006, the Falls Steakhouse launched in a new edifice just about as far northwest as you…

MariscosMexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodSanta Fe

Mariscos Costa Azul – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:07 PM

Costa Azul…The Blue Coast…the name evokes images of pristine sandy beaches, translucent blue waters, lush verdant jungles and brightly plumed birds. For Santa Fe diners, the name may also evoke involuntary salivation and pangs of hunger which can be quelled only by the incomparably fresh and delicious mariscos (seafood) at one of the City Different’s best Mexican restaurants, Mariscos Costa Azul. For years, the word “mariscos” was synonymous with Santa Fe’s two Mariscos La Playa restaurants, about which the New York Times wrote, “Yes, even in landlocked Santa Fe, it’s possible to find incredibly fresh and well-prepared seafood served in big portions.” The two Mariscos La Playa restaurants–jointly owned by cousins Nora Lopez and Jose Ortega–were perennial reader’s poll winners of the Santa Fe Reporter‘s annual “best seafood” and “best Mexican restaurant” categories. In early 2006, the two cousins parted ways with the Ortega family renaming the south-side restaurant Mariscos Costa Azul. The restaurant is awash in a veritable spectrum of color, particularly of soothing azure shades the color of Mexico’s Pacific coastal waters. Many of the intricately carved chairs feature a hazel-eyed sun peeking out from behind verdant hills. Others of the tightly woven twine chairs include colorfully painted…